


Seven Days Of Holtzbert

by Dreamshaper, maschinenmensch



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Holtzbert - Freeform, Holtzbert Week, Hurt/Comfort, Smut, The Holtzbros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-14 00:53:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10525500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper, https://archiveofourown.org/users/maschinenmensch/pseuds/maschinenmensch
Summary: Seven days, seven ficlets for Holtzbert Week. A celebratory series of the ship we all know and love, brought to you by your resident fandom trash, the Holtzbros.





	1. April Fools

**Author's Note:**

> Since Holtzbro the Younger and I are total trash for this ship, did you honestly think we wouldn't participate?
> 
> For the next seven days enjoy the fruit of our labors. Or something. These fics run the gamut - fluff, angst, hurt/comfort. And smut. Because you know, it's us.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!

Erin returned to the firehouse after having grabbed lunch to suspicious silence, and immediately worried about it. After all, there _never_ was silence during the day, and often not during the night, either, they could always hear Holtzmann tinkering in her lab, and if there was no noise, Erin was quite sure it meant nothing good.

Quickly, she put the bags with food down onto Kevin’s desk - briefly wondering where he was, since technically, he was supposed to be at said desk at this very moment - then hurried up the stairs; she was relieved that she smelled no smoke, but the silence was unnerving, and her concern grew again when she reached the top of the stairs and found Holtzmann sitting at one of her workbenches, staring at something in front of her.

“Holtzy?” Erin said, careful and still a bit worried - she could see no injuries, but Holtzmann was so uncharacteristically quiet, even sitting perfectly still, which was disconcerting all by itself, “are you okay?”

“I think so”, Holtzmann gave back, swiveling on her chair to look at her, “but, um… I got another… gift.”

“Oh?” Erin let out, her tone carefully neutral so Holtzmann wouldn’t get a hint of her true emotions; nodding, the engineer pointed to the unwrapped package on her workbench, a closer look revealing the object in question to be a chocolate bar, and the one Holtzmann liked best, too - caramel, raisins and peanuts, a combination Erin more than once had called “ungodly” and “a crime against nature”.

Holtzmann receiving anonymous gifts had become something of a regular occurrence over the past month, at least one of them arriving each week; and it always was candy or a snack the engineer liked, from Pringles to chocolate and, one memorable day, a Starbucks gift card with enough money on it to let her buy both the massively over-sugared concoction she liked and a cinnamon roll.

“Did they add a note or something this time?” Erin wanted to know, while Holtzmann poked the candy bar again, as if she feared it might explode; the blonde shook her head, then sighed, giving her a dismayed look while the candy received yet another poke.

“I mean”, she then said, “it’s nice to have an admirer and all? But it’s getting a bit creepy. They seem to know _exactly_ what I like. I mean, the Pringles are a given, but the rest? Especially this candy bar? I think I’m the only person on the planet who still eats those. How would they know that? And gosh, I hope it’s a woman.”

“Well, maybe it was a lucky guess”, Erin replied with a shrug, earning a doubtful look from the blonde, “I mean, it is somewhat known that you have… eccentric taste. So perhaps they just sent the most eccentric chocolate they could find?”

“Maybe”, Holtzmann gave back, poking the candy again, “but maybe they are creepily stalking me and this is poisoned. So if I drop dead, you’ll know what happened!”

“Well, you don’t have to eat it, you know”, Erin pointed out, rolling her eyes, but smiling at the engineer’s replied.

“Nah”, Holtzmann said, suddenly smiling again as well, “I’m gonna.”

“Of course you are”, Erin replied with another roll of her eyes, making the engineer snicker; she smiled back at her, then let her know that lunch was waiting downstairs, the candy and the secret admirer who had sent it along with all the other things for the moment forgotten as Holtzmann practically bounced up from her seat and hopped over to the pole, sliding down to the ground floor while Erin took the stairs, after one final look at the candy the engineer was completely unaware of.

* * *

“Everyone!” Holtzmann called out exactly one week later, waving a package around, “gather round for the next episode of Holtzy’s secret admirer!”

“Ooh”, Patty let out, quite invested into the whole thing, to the amusement of the other Ghostbusters, “what is it this time? Wait, let me guess. Hmmm… Canned pineapple! So you can put it on your pizza slices when we won’t let you add it.”

“If they know _that_ , it’s a whole new level of creepy”, Abby pointed out, and Patty blanched as she had to admit that this was a good point; Holtzmann let out a vaguely agreeing noise in reply, fiddling with the tape her admirer had used to seal the package shut, then giving up and pulling out her new Swiss army knife, quickly slicing through the tape and opening the little box.

“No pineapple, canned or otherwise”, she said, holding up the content of the package - a limited edition pack of M&Ms -, “Holtzy is happy about that one, I just finished my last pack of M&Ms yesterday. Now let’s hope this was a coinkidink or it gets creepy again….”

She trailed off as she spotted something taped to the back of the candy; curious, Holtzmann plucked the small piece of paper off and unfolded it, raising an eyebrow at the computer written words.

“What does it say?” Erin wanted to know, curious; Holtzmann cleared her throat, then read it out loud, the others listening curiously, Abby raising an eyebrow at what the note said.

“Dear Holtzmann”, the engineer read, “after admiring you from afar for so long, I think it is time for us to meet. If you agree, please meet me next Saturday at seven at Franco’s. I will be waiting for you in a booth with a can of Pringles. XOXOXO, your secret admirer.”

“You’re not gonna go, are you”, Patty wanted to know, frowning, “Holtzy, baby, I’ve seen Criminal Minds episodes start like that!”

“Nah I’ll check ‘em out”, Holtzmann replied, not really surprising anyone, “come on, it’s Franco’s, that’s at a busy street and full of people, especially in the evening. If it’s a creepy dude or creepy gal I’ll just beat a hasty retreat before they see me.”

“Maybe you should take Kevin along, just for how imposing he looks”, Abby suggested, having to agree though when Holtzmann pointed out that while Kevin did look imposing, thanks to their social media accounts, people knew that he was a sort of human puppy dog; she reassured her friends again that it’d be alright and that she’d be careful, too curious to let herself be talked out of this, and after another sigh, Abby and Patty realized the same thing, and gave their attempts to make her change her mind.

As Holtzmann tore open the M&Ms and began munching them down on the way back up to her lab, she realized that Erin hadn’t said a thing about the blind date, but had just listened, with a look of apprehension on her face, and she wondered what this reaction of the physicist might mean.

* * *

Holtzmann fidgeted as she approached Franco’s. She wasn’t nervous per-say, fairly confident that she wasn’t going to meet some obsessed stalker. The letters and gifts she had received hadn’t given her that vibe, and she was pretty good at reading people. Holtzmann just hoped this person wasn’t completely smitten with her.

Because she was completely smitten with someone else.

What had given her pause on her way over was a glance at the arrival times at the subway station and the date that flashed on the bottom of the screen.

April 1st.

_What if this is some huge colossal prank?_

Holtzmann shook her head. _No, this would be too elaborate._ Still, she was a well-known prankster and this could be a way someone could get back at her…

The engineer stood outside the entrance of the restaurant for a moment before taking a deep breath and entering. The hostess raised an eyebrow as she approached her, Holtzmann wondering for a second if she should’ve left the leather jacket at home.

“Um, I’m meeting someone. Not sure who it is but -”

“Are you Holtzmann?”

 _Can her eyebrow go any higher?_ “Yep, that’s me!”

“Your party’s waiting for you in the corner booth, let me bring you to her.”

 _Her,_ Holtzmann mused as she’s led to the back of the restaurant. _Whew, if it had been a guy I’m not sure how well I’d be able to handle that._

She spotted a can of Pringles on the table first, which made Holtzmann break into a grin. But then the person in the booth turned around to look and her and the blonde froze.

It’s Erin. She was smiling at her.

_This is a joke, a fucking game. She’s laughing at me._

It hurts. Hurts because Erin’s her friend.

It hurts because Holtzmann wanted to be more than her friend.

The engineer spun on a dime and sprinted for the entrance, nearly bowling over the hostess in the process. She heard Erin calling her name out behind her.

She ignored her.

Holtzmann groaned when she stepped outside. The clouds had looked threatening all day, and it picked this very moment for the rain to start. She stood there for a few seconds, letting the rain wash over her.

She wished it would wash her away.

“Holtzmann! Come inside, you’re getting soaked!”

“What’s it to you?”

Erin’s jaw dropped. “Holtz! Did you think I sent all those notes for fun? This was hard for me!”

Holtzmann snorted. “Sure Er. Drag me along with this secret admirer BS for weeks, and then embarrass me in public on April Fools. Sooooo difficult for you.”

A look of shock came over Erin’s face. “Oh crap.”

“Whatever Erin.” Holtzmann turned to walk back to the subway station when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around directly into Erin’s waiting arms. And her lips.

Holtzmann paused for a moment, not fully believing this was Erin kissing her. Erin with her hands running through her wet hair. Erin pressing her body close to her own.

But it’s only a moment before Holtzmann relented and kissed back. Hard.

Erin moaned and Holtzmann's knees almost buckled.

When they parted they were both soaked, both breathing heavy. Erin cupped Holtzmann’s cheeks, stroking them with her thumbs, making a vain attempt to wipe off the raindrops.

“I’m so sorry Holtzmann. I didn’t even think about what day it was when I set tonight up. I feel awful.”

Holtzmann kissed Erin on the nose, eliciting a smile from the physicist. “I could have taken a chill pill there myself. I mean, I don’t know why I thought you’d do such a thing to me. Maybe it’s because -”

“Maybe it’s because what I feel for you is so strong, so overwhelming that the mere thought that this was a joke to you was too much to bear.”

“It’s not a joke Holtz. None of this was. I was just too shy, too embarrassed to tell you how I felt about you straight out, so I started sending you the notes and the candy and you couldn’t figure it out and -”

Holtzmann silenceed Erin’s babbling with another scorching kiss, the physicist whimpering into her mouth. She pulled away with a lopsided grin.

“I have a feeling we might be a little too...wet for this fine establishment. Your place or mine?”

“Mine, last time I was at your place your couch was buried under...I don’t know even know Holtzmann.”

“‘Kay.” Holtzmann wrapped her arm around Erin’s shoulders, the rain now coming down in sheets.

They didn’t care.

“Hey Er?”

“Yeah Holtz?”

“Run back inside and grab that can of Pringles. I wouldn’t want those salty parabolas to go to waste.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to our Holtzbert week captain for setting this all up - us two fools had a lot of fun doing this


	2. Neurodiversity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks, Dreamshaper here :) Time for the second Holtzbert Week ficlet - you might not be happy with us for this one at first, but hopefully by the end, it'll be okay again. :D

_ It’s so cold and dripping and sticky and cold and cold and I can’t think I won’t think and this is so bad I want to… _

Holtzmann gripped the door handle in the backseat of the Ecto-1 and tried not to scream. 

It was an ordinary Tuesday and it seemed like an ordinary bust. All up until the part when Holtzmann saw movement out of the corner of her eye - a class IV headed straight for Erin who was struggling to get her proton gun untangled from her pack. Instinctively, Holtzmann ran forward, pushing the physicist out of the way, protecting her from what she assumed was a preeminent attack.

She was mistaken. She was ecto-projected on instead. Covered head to toe in cold, gooey slime.

Up to that point, Holtzmann had been successful in avoiding what she referred to as the “Erin Effect.” She may have gotten some slime on her coveralls, once a medium sized glop on her head. But all and all, she had remained relatively unscathed. She had been quick and careful to avoid it.

Because she suspected what being covered in slime would do to her. 

She was right.

Holtzmann stood in the middle of the warehouse. Unmoving. Unblinking. Once the ghost was dispatched, the other three Ghostbusters approached her. Patty and Abby were full of teasing jokes, about how this was Holtzmann’s “first time” and how Erin must have been rubbing off on her.

Erin didn’t say anything at first. Because Erin  _ knew. _

She was careful not to touch Holtzmann, knowing it would only make things worse. “Come on Holtzy,” she said in a quiet, even voice. “Let’s get back to the Ecto - the quicker we get going, the quicker we can get this slime off of you. Ok, honey?”

Holtzmann nodded and shuffled slowly toward the exit, Erin walking next to her as close as the engineer would allow. Patty and Abby were quiet, realizing that they were witnessing what Holtzmann deemed one of her “medium mental poofs.”

Erin carefully removed Holtzmann’s proton pack once they reached the hearse, the blonde emitting a soft cry as Erin’s hands brushed her back and shoulders. “Sorry Holtzy, sorry.” Once the pack was secure she opened the driver’s side back door, spreading a towel across the seat. “C’mon sweetheart, get in. We’ll leave soon all right?”

Holtzmann slid in as carefully as she could, but slime still dripped down the back of her coveralls and squished in her boots as she stepped inside. She whimpered. She closed her eyes.

_ I want to tear every inch of my skin off right now. _

She had always been this way - sensitive to certain stimuli that most people would find mundane. A certain frequency would cause Holtzmann to drop everything and cover her ears. The feeling of nylon on her skin. People she didn’t trust getting close to her, touching her when she hadn’t acquiesced. The texture of starchy foods on her tongue.

And cold, sticky things touching any part of her body.

The ride back to the firehouse was mostly quiet, Patty and Abby having a muted conversation in the front seat, Erin keeping a close eye on the engineer. Holtzmann for her part closed her eyes and tried to recite the Fibonacci Sequence in her head to distract her. It wasn’t working. 

Her lip quivered as she tried not to sob, not to break down in front of  _ everyone _ . Erin scooted closer to her, speaking once again to Holtzmann in a calm, even manner.

“Can I touch you Holtzy? Is that ok?”

The answer would have been no for any other person in the galaxy. But not for Erin Gilbert.

She nodded and Erin placed a gentle touch on Holtzmann’s shoulder, not caring her hand was now also covered in slime. She rubbed the back of her shoulder softly, the distraction causing Holtzmann’s breathing to slow down. A bit.

Her insides clenched up though, the very act of the physicist being this close to her, this intimate, making a vortex of her feelings. She tried to ignore it, focusing on the warmth radiating off Erin, the smell of her shampoo. The sound of her voice as she told her about the book she was reading. 

She was almost soothed.

But when she felt the Ecto-1 slow and pull into the garage, the calmness disappeared, replaced by once again by the sensation of cold and sticky and just plain grossness. Holtzmann unbuckled her seatbelt and bolted out of the hearse before Patty came to a complete stop.

“Dammit Holtzy, don’t do that!”

She heard Erin quietly admonish Patty, the historian apologizing sheepishly. But her sole focus was to stop it. The cold. The feeling that her skin was oozing off. Fabric sticking to her body in places it shouldn’t.

Holtzmann had stripped her coveralls off before she reached the top of the stairs, her boots flung off at the bottom. Her pants, t-shirt and bra followed soon afterward. She made it to the bathroom clad only in her boxers and socks. 

She made it to the bathroom just in time to vomit everything she ate that morning.

* * *

Erin knew better than to follow Holtzmann to the bathroom right away, and so, she waited.

It was somewhat difficult for her to do so, with her concern for the engineer so high; she hadn’t witnessed Holtzmann so affected by something often yet, but it had worried her each time it had happened, and this time, it was no different.

Erin remembered the first time it had happened all too well, during a late night at the lab; Holtzmann had been working on an upgraded version of the Ghost Chipper, and something she had done to it - to this day, Erin wasn’t sure  _ what _ \- had caused the weapon to emit a high-pitched, startlingly loud beep, an unexpected noise which had made her jump as it had torn her out of her work.

She had turned, she remembered, to look at Holtzmann, and to ask her what was going on; and she remembered well how alarmed she had been at once, at the sight of the engineer standing with her back to the workbench, her hands over her ears and her eyes squeezed shut, her whole body trembling.

The beeping had stopped a short while later, and Holtzmann had, after some gentle coaxing from Erin, recovered enough to open her eyes again and take her hands off her ears; she had been embarrassed, Erin remembered, close to tears and unable to look her in the eye, but later that evening, they had talked, the physicist speaking of her own mental issues and encouraging Holtzmann to speak of hers, as well.

“Erin?” Abby’s voice tore her out of her memories, making her look up and at the researcher standing in front of her, meeting the worried eyes of her best friend, “um… Holtzy’s gonna be okay, right?”

“Yes”, Erin gave back at once, even managing a slight smile, to Abby’s obvious relief, “she’ll just… need a bit of time.”

_ And speaking of time,  _ she realized while Abby nodded and went back to her own desk,  _ Holtz has been up there for a while… I better go check, just to make sure. _

She excused herself from Abby and Patty and headed upstairs; on the way to the bathroom, she found the various pieces of clothing Holtzmann had left, frowning at the tear in the t-shirt, a clear sign of how violently the engineer had torn the garment off her body.

Discarding the shirt for now, Erin walked the rest of the way to the bathroom, knocking the door before she slowly opened it, not wanting to startle the engineer; the room was steamy, showing how hot the water had to be, and Erin’s heart clenched up when, in reaction to her carefully calm “Holtzmann?”, a small whimper came from behind the shower curtain.

Making sure to not do so too fast, Erin pulled the curtain back, and her heart ached for the engineer - Holtzmann was sitting beneath the hot spray, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, her eyes squeezed shut, slime still clinging to her hair and a good part of her back, Erin pausing as she tried to figure out how to help her girlfriend through this.

Once again, she felt bad, knowing that Holtzmann only had gotten slimed because she had wanted to protect her; she was no big fan of getting slimed, either, but she knew it wasn’t nearly as bad for her as it was for Holtzmann, and as she saw her girlfriend so shaken up, Erin wished that she could turn back time and take the load of slime herself, just so Holtzmann wouldn’t have to feel like this.

“Holtzy?” she said in a low, caring tone, her heart clenching up again when she only got a soft sniffle in response and belatedly realized that Holtzmann was crying, feeling a bit better though a moment later as an idea hit, “is it okay if I get in there with you? Help you get this off?”

Holtzmann gave a barely perceptible nod, and as quickly as possible, Erin took off her clothes; and as she stepped into the tub, mindful to not end up slipping and falling, she briefly thought to herself about how she certainly hadn’t imagined her first shower together with the engineer to happen under such painful circumstances.

Then, she shrugged these thoughts off, telling herself that they would have more than enough time for more pleasant showers in the future; she took a moment to grasp the shower gel she normally used after she had gotten slimed, then lowered herself into a crouch next to the engineer.

“Okay”, she said, not wanting to startle Holtzmann since the blonde still had her eyes squeezed shut, “I’ll get this off your back and then I’ll wash your hair. Alright?”

Again the only response she got was a quick nod, and she still made sure to not move too fast as she poured a generous dollop of shower gel onto her palm; as gently as possible, she began to wash the slime off of Holtzmann’s back, and to her relief, Holtzmann relaxed a bit after a while, at least enough to stop shaking, even though she still was sniffling quietly every now and then.

Once Erin had gotten done with the engineer’s back, she put the shower gel aside and grabbed the shampoo bottle; her movements were still gentle and slow as she foamed up Holtzmann’s hair, humming softly to her in an attempt to calm her down even further, glad when she felt the blonde relax further at her tender touch.

“Alright”, she mumbled once she could be sure all the slime was gone, “squeaky clean. I’ll get a towel, alright?”

Holtzmann let out a vaguely agreeing noise this time, the sound only another indicator that she was recovering; her eyes were still squeezed shut, but still Erin smiled at her before she got up and grabbed one of the clean towels from the stack next to the tub, then asked Holtzmann if she could come to her feet for her.

It took the engineer a few moments, but finally, she nodded and stood up; giving her best to be gentle, Erin towelled her dry, her heart clenching up again when Holtzmann spoke up for the first time since the physicist had found her, her voice uncharacteristically quiet and trembling a bit. “I’m sorry…”

“You have nothing to be sorry for”, Erin reassured her, briefly touching her shoulder, “I’ll get us some clean clothes and then we can snuggle, if you like, okay? If not, if you want some alone time, it’s okay, too.”

“Snuggles”, Holtzmann mumbled, still finding it hard to look her in the eye; Erin gave a brief nod and smiled at her, then went to find them something to wear, making sure to choose the softest, comfiest clothes Holtzmann owned, and once they both had gotten dressed, they moved to the little room Holtzmann slept in whenever she worked too late, Erin lying down on the bed there first, Holtzmann snuggling up to her moments later.

“Comfortable?” Erin asked once the engineer had stilled in her loose embrace; she felt Holtzmann nod against her shoulder and smiled, tenderly kissing the top of her head before she moved one hand to caress her hair.

For a while, they just laid there like this, and Holtzmann was still tense, Erin’s mind racing as she tried to figure out how to make this better; and then, it came to her, and she cleared her throat - before she began to sing, soft and insecure at first, with a bit more conviction when Holtzmann stilled for a few moments, then practically melted against her.

_ Will you stay with me, will you be my love among the fields of barley? _

_ We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we lie in fields of gold. _

“...thank you”, Holtzmann whispered once Erin had fallen silent again, the physicist’s fingers still tenderly moving through the drying blonde locks, “that… helped. A lot.”  
  
“I’m glad”, Erin told her, kissing the top of her head once more afterwards; and then, she started to hum softly again, until Holtzmann had relaxed fully in her arms and the engineer’s slow and calm breaths showed that she had fallen asleep, Erin allowing herself to drift off as well once she could be sure Holtzmann was sleeping peacefully, holding her girlfriend close even when their slumber was deepest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Erin sings to Holtzmann is "Fields of Gold" by Sting :)


	3. Ghost Girl

“Well”, Abby said, eying the building they had been called to with a raised eyebrow, “that is definitely a first.”

“We haven’t been doing this for long”, Erin pointed out to her, pulling on one of her proton pack straps to make sure it was properly strapped onto her back, “so I imagine there are a few more definite firsts in our immediate future.”

“Good point”, Abby had to agree; all four of them took another look at the building - a public school, and a fairly new one at that, then the researcher turned to Patty, and the historian grimaced, thinking back to what she knew of this certain building and location.

“That building is new, finished in 2012”, she let them know, grimacing again as she went on, “but the one which stood there before was a school too, and it burned down. A lot of kids got hurt, and seven died.”

Erin cast an uneasy glance at the building at hearing that, imagining the crackling of the flames and the screams of terrified kids; next to her, Holtzmann clearly had similar thoughts, looking uncomfortable before she cleared her throat and took a step forward.

“So we know why those kids are pissed”, she said, reminding them all that they had a job to do, no matter if they felt sorry for the children the ghosts had been before they had become malevolent apparitions haunting the school, throwing things, attacking teachers and frightening the pupils, “but we still got a job to do.”

The other three nodded, and walked to the building’s front entrance; it was wide enough so all four of them could walk in side by side, and despite the tragic backstory of the ghosts awaiting them, Holtzmann couldn’t hold back a comment about how badass they certainly had to look. 

“We better split up”, Abby suggested as they stood in the lobby, glancing around, the building suspiciously silent, “teams of two? Patty, we take the first floor, Erin and Holtz, you go through this one?”

Erin nodded, unholstering her proton gun and making sure the proton shotgun strapped her to her thigh could easily be pulled free; Holtzmann smirked at her, a smirk which sent a flash of heat right to her core - something the engineer hopefully was unaware of - then looked around again as she ambled down the hallway, appearing quite relaxed, as if she was strolling through a mall and not a haunted school building.

Feeling decidedly more nervous, Erin moved along behind the blonde, still not all too happy about the location of this bust - she had no fond memories of her own school days, meeting Abby had made it marginally better, but still she had been bullied even when she’d found that one friend, and as she peered into one of the classrooms, she heard the laughter of her peers, heard them chant “Ghost Girl, Ghost Girl” as they threw things at her, forced to stop walking and take in a deep breath.

“Erin?” Holtzmann picked up on her discomfort at once, giving her a worried look, “you okay?”

“Fine”, Erin let her know after another deep breath, telling herself that now was not the time for stories of her traumatizing school days, “this room seems empty, let’s see if we can…”

She trailed off when she felt the fine hair at the back of her neck rise, her breath crystallizing as the temperature noticeably dropped; her ears popped, and from how Holtzmann grimaced, she had felt it too, her proton pack humming audibly when she readied it for the ghost which certainly would appear any moment now.

It wasn’t just one ghost which appeared, but four, and they formed a circle around Erin, effectively cutting her off from Holtzmann, her grip on the proton gun tightening when all four of them laughed simultaneously, nasty, mocking laughter.

The laughter she had heard every day during her own school days, and always,  _ always _ directed at her.

“Look”, one of the ghosts, a malicious looking boy was the first to stop laughing and to speak up, his eyes glowing brightly red as he smirked nastily at her, “new girls for us to play with. Do you want to play?”

“I bet she wants to play”, another one, a girl this time, said, her eyes just as red as the boy’s, a creepy little giggle coming from her before she went on, Erin finding herself unable to move as her eyes met the ghosts, “don’t you? You want to play with us, right?”

The girl laughed again, then suddenly stepped forward and pushed her; and while the girl had kept Erin distracted, another of the ghost children had moved to crouch behind her, so that she stumbled over the kid and fell, her breath getting knocked out of her when she landed hard on her back.

It was an old trick, and on any other day, with any other sort of ghost, Erin would have seen it coming - because it had been done to her before, more or less regularly when she had been at school, always accompanied by the same mocking laughter she heard again now.

The boy who had spoken to her first, a sort of ringleader, perhaps, laughed as he crouched, ready to pounce her and hurt her further, and just when he launched himself forward, her view of him suddenly was blocked as Holtzmann rushed to protect her, ending up in front of her, the ghost slamming into her with startling force and driving her a few steps back before she lost her footing and fell, as well.

Erin heard the low thud of a fist meeting flesh as the ghost attacked her friend, and that snapped her out of her stupor; quickly, she holstered her proton wand and pulled out the shotgun, gritting her teeth as she fired at the ghost closely to her, darkly satisfied when the blast immediately disintegrated it.

While Erin fired again and took out another one, Holtzmann struggled to sit up, blood trickling down her chin, but she seemed unperturbed as she slammed one hand down onto the control panel strapped to her arm; her proton pistols popped out of the pack, and the combined efforts of Erin and the engineer made short work of the ghosts, all four of them gone not even a minute later.

And the moment the last ghost was gone, Erin shoved her gun back into the holster and rushed to Holtzmann’s side, just in time to see her spit out a tooth along with a mouthful of blood, her eyes going wide at the sight.

“Holtz, I’m so sorry!” she apologized, wringing her hands, her guilt only growing when Holtzmann shrugged and smiled at her - and revealed that it had been a front tooth the ghost had knocked out, “I don’t know what… I just froze up, I’m so sorry, this never should have happened…”

“Nah it’s fine hot stuff”, Holtzmann reassured her, Erin too distraught to blush at the pet name for once, “you’re okay, right?”

“Yes, but you’re not”, Erin pointed out, as the engineer spat out more blood; Holtzmann just shrugged, clearly not all too perturbed by what had happened, but before the physicist could comment on that, her walkie-talkie crackled to life, Abby’s voice letting them know that they had taken three ghosts down and asking how they were doing.

“We got four”, Erin told her, with another unhappy look at Holtzmann, “and Holtz got hurt. Not so bad that she’d need an ambulance but…”

“Let’s meet in the lobby and do a final sweep”, Abby suggested, earning a vaguely agreeing noise from the physicist; Holtzmann gave her another bright, but now gap-toothed smile, then they got moving again to meet the other two, Erin’s guilt only growing as they walked, heavy on her shoulders as she asked herself she could have let this happen to one of her closest friends.

* * *

"Chill Erin, the mayor has us on a health plan with dental included. I can get a gold tooth! It's like Pimp my Ride. Pimp Your Holtz!”  

Erin smiled weakly, touched by Holtzmann’s attempt at cheering her up. Her amusement was short lived, as memory after memory of her years as the maligned Ghost Girl came flooding back, triggered by the bust at the school.

The engineer seemed to sense this as she sat next to her on the couch in Holtzmann’s lab. She tentatively wrapped an arm around Erin’s shoulders.

“It’s ok you know. It doesn’t hurt. I’ll go to the dentist this week and take care of it - I won’t get a gold tooth if it bothers you.”

“It’s not that Holtz - though I’m not sure if a gold tooth suits you. Those ghosts, that school. It brought back…”

Erin rubbed her face with her hands. It was too much.

“Er -” the seriousness in Holtzmann’s voice caused her to turn the engineer’s way.

Holtzmann gave the physicist a sad smile and then looked straight ahead, a pained expression on her face. When she spoke, the tenor was flat, shaky. 

“They used to tease me too. I was the smallest in the class. And the weirdest. When they found out I liked girls in junior high it was just -” the engineer looked down, her emotions getting the better of her. Erin snaked her arm across Holtzmann’s lap to grasp the blonde’s free hand, stroking the top of it with her thumb.

“It’ll be ok Holtzy. We’ll both be ok.” Holtzmann looked up just then, her face mere inches from the physicist’s. She saw blue eyes look down at her lips, her breath hitching.

_ She’s going to kiss me. And I want her to. _

A loud bang from downstairs startled the two women, the sound of Abby and Patty admonishing Kevin for knocking over the coat rack following. Holtzmann pulled her face away from Erin’s, the interruption ending whatever moment the couple was about to share.

“So, uh,” Holtzmann lifted her arm off Erin’s shoulders, rubbing the back of her neck. “Do you think I’m too old for the tooth fairy or…”

Erin giggled. “I think we can arrange a visit from her.”

“I’ll make sure to put my incisor under my pillow then tonight.” The engineer pulled the tooth out of her front coverall pocket and wiggled it between her fingers. She gave Erin a wink before standing up and skipping to her workbench.

* * *

“I got the most interesting thing under my pillow last night Er.”

“Oh did you now?” Erin tried not to let her nervousness show, but she knew the conversation she was about to have could shape her future and the rest of her life.

“Uh-huh. I was expecting a quarter or maybe a couple salty parabolas, but got this instead.” Holtzmann placed a square of paper on Erin’s desk. It merely stated  _ Tooth Fairy Voucher - 1 Kiss from Erin _ in neat, precise handwriting.

“How about that.” Erin knew her face was reddening. She couldn’t look the blonde in the eye, the awkward silence between them confirming all her worst fears. 

“So, um -” Holtzmann’s hands fiddled with the cloth belt on her red smoking jacket. “Would it be ok if I redeemed this now? I mean, you don’t get such awesome gifts but a few times in a lifetime.”

_ Awesome? A gift? _

Erin glanced up to see blue eyes as tentative and nervous as she was. Holtzmann bit her lip, the gesture emboldening the physicist. She stood up and placed her hands on the blonde’s cheeks gently closing the gap between their lips.

Holtzmann hummed, pulling the physicist closer to her. By the time they had come up for air, Erin had her hands tangled in the engineer’s hair, Holtzmann’s gripping Erin’s hips tightly. They stood, looking at one another for what seemed like hours.

“So, was this a one time offer or?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I should have the dentist pull all my teeth out now.”

“Holtz!” 

“I’m kidding!”

“You better be,” Erin stroked the side of Holtzmann’s face. “Because you can get kisses from me whenever you want.”

“How about right now?”

“Hmmm...I think yes.”

As their lips touched once again, the memory of Ghost Girl seemed to fade away a little further in Erin’s memory. Her only focus was on the future, and the woman she wanted to share it with.


	4. Medium Poof

Erin was tired, and she knew she wasn’t alone with that. It had been the hardest, most stressful week for the team so far; from Monday on, there had been at least two busts a day, a memorable four on Thursday, and in between busts, they had been busy at the firehouse, Holtzmann working on their equipment and the other three on the more theoretical parts of their job.

Despite all the work they did, Erin felt that she was behind on her part of it, and so, had come in Saturday morning to get some of their weekly reports done; to her surprise, Holtzmann was there, too, up in her lab already when Erin arrived, working on Patty’s proton pack, all four of the packs having taken various amounts of damage during the number of busts.

“Hey Holtz”, Erin greeted her as she entered, not quite sure how she felt about being in the lab alone with the engineer - she had been pretty good at ignoring the fact that she wasn’t exactly straight for the past decades of her life, but Holtzmann had been making this decidedly more difficult ever since they had met, and it was getting worse the more she got to know the engineer instead of better.

And the way Holtzmann flirted with her certainly did not help - instead, it made her heart speed up each time the engineer winked at her, called her “hot stuff” or made some flirty remark directed at her.

This morning though, there was no flirty one-liner, not even a wink; Holtzmann just gave her a somewhat lopsided smile as she returned the greeting, and for the first time this week, Erin fully and consciously noticed how  _ tired  _ the engineer looked, dark rings beneath her bloodshot eyes, the physicist getting a good look at them as at least for the moment, Holtzmann wasn’t wearing her yellow-tinted glasses.

“Working overtime too, huh”, the blonde then wanted to know, making Erin nod, “if you want coffee, I made a pot, it’s in the kitchen.”

“Thank you”, Erin gave back, smiling at the blonde before she made her way to the kitchen; on any other day, she would have poured more milk than coffee into her cup, knowing how strong the engineer’s coffee usually was, but on this morning, she felt like “too strong coffee” was impossible, and so just added a splash of milk, Holtzmann fully focused on her work again by the time Erin returned to her desk upstairs.

For a while, the only noises in the lab were those caused by the two women as they worked, the soft clacking of the keyboard of Erin’s computer and the sounds of Holtzmann tinkering with the packs; Erin barely was aware how fast the hours went by, until Holtzmann put down her tools and straightened up, distracting the physicist from her work when she spoke up and let her know that she’d go and get lunch, making her nod when she asked if she should bring her something, too.

“Thank you”, Erin then said, already reaching for her purse, “wait, just let me find my wallet…”

“No need to”, Holtzmann gave back, making her pause, “that one’s on me hot stuff. Sandwiches are okay?”

Erin felt her cheeks heat up at being addressed as “hot stuff”, as it always happened when Holtzmann did so; still she smiled and nodded, then let the engineer know what she wanted on her sandwich, Holtzmann heading out a minute later - and the moment she was gone, Erin’s gaze drifted to her proton pack waiting for maintenance on one of the workbenches.

She knew that her pack hadn’t taken much damage during the last few busts, and even though she had work of her own to do, she all at once was determined to do the small repairs necessary on her own, eager to lessen Holtzmann’s workload; she thought back to how tired the engineer had looked when Erin had arrived, and, telling herself that she had seen the younger woman work on the packs often enough to know quite a bit about how they functioned, she figured that she could do what had to be done to fix her pack all on her own.

_ And imagine how impressed Holtz will be,  _ the small, treacherous which made her think of Holtzmann late at night, when she laid awake in her bed,  _ if she comes back from getting lunch and your pack is all fixed up! _

It was the mental image of Holtzmann looking at her impressed and perhaps even a bit awed which silenced Erin’s insecurities about doing this and got her moving; she cracked her knuckles as she took a closer look at her proton pack, quickly spotting where some damage had been done to it, telling herself that she could do this as she grabbed a screwdriver from Holtz’ arsenal of tools.

And for a while, work on her pack did go smoothly, better than she had dared to expect; her confidence grew as she fixed a few minor damages, already looking forward to the look on Holtzmann’s face when the engineer would come back… when a loud bang startled her out of her focus, making her jump, her eyes going wide as sharp pain registered in her hand, followed by alarm as the smell of smoke hit her nostrils.

Then, blood trickled onto the workbench, and Erin’s stomach turned when she took a closer look at her hand and saw the deep slash, running diagonally across her palm, from the soft pad of her thumb all the way to her pinky.

“Holy crap!” she heard Holtzmann call out behind her, accompanied by the sound of something hitting the floor, belatedly realizing that the engineer had dropped the bags with their lunch, unable to look away from her hand though, her stomach clenching again when she realized how badly the wound was bleeding.

“What happened?!” Holtzmann demanded to know as she rushed to Erin’s side, grabbing a bunch of paper towels on the way, “no, wait, tell me later, oh yikes this is really deep, we better get you to the ER, this is gonna need stitches. Wait… this might hurt a bit…”

Erin grit her teeth when Holtzmann pressed the paper towels to her hand, in an attempt to stop the bleeding; the engineer instructed to hold the towels there, then quickly made the pack stop smoking, Erin feeling glum and down by the time this was done and Holtzmann took tender hold of her arm, ready to take her to the ER and have her injury taken care of, the physicist dismayed by how spectacularly her attempt to impress her friend -  _ and secret crush,  _ she had to admit to herself - had backfired.

* * *

“Do you want anything from the fridge?”

“No, I’m ok.”

Erin stared blankly at the TV blaring in front of her while Holtzmann rummaged through her refrigerator. Four long hours in the ER and thirteen stitches later, the two of them ended up at Erin’s apartment. The physicist was touched by the way Holtzmann doted on her - ordering food from Erin’s favorite Thai restaurant, fluffing the pillows on the couch, asking repeatedly if her hand hurt, if she needed anything, if there was something she could do to make her feel better.

Even though this was all her fault.

_ How could I be so stupid? Holtz probably thinks I’m an idiot. She could never… _

“I finished off your OJ, I hope that’s ok.”

The engineer bouncing back on the couch, a half filled glass of orange juice in her hand, roused Erin from her musings.

“That’s fine Holtz. I think it was expired anyway.”

Mid-gulp the blonde grabbed her throat, making gagging noises. “Eeeeeeerin, it’s spoiled, it’s gonna eat me aliveeeeee…”

“Oh stop,” Erin playfully slapped Holtzmann on the shoulder with her good hand, the engineer giving her a wink before downing the rest of the juice and putting the empty glass on the coffee table.

“You ok babe?”

Erin blushed slightly at the endearment. “I’m fine Holtz. I just feel kinda silly at the moment.”

“For what?” Holtzmann’s brow crinkled in concern, making the physicist’s heart ache even more.

“I thought I was helping you. I only made things...worse.” Erin picked at the bandage covering her palm, wishing the ground would swallow her whole.  _ Why does she even bother… _

She felt Holtzmann’s arm snake around her shoulder and allowed herself to be pulled into an embrace. Erin rested her head on the engineer’s chest. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve sworn she felt chapped lips lightly kissing the top of her head.

“The fact you wanted to help, that you cared enough to try. It means the world to me Erin. I hope you know that.” Holtzmann’s voice was low and hushed. It made Erin tingle at the base of her spine.

The physicist twirled Holtzmann’s Screw U pendant between her fingers, picking it up from where it was resting on top of the blonde’s paisley patterned button down.  _ This is so emblematic of...her. Of everything that makes her so special _ . Erin yawned and nestled closer to the warmth radiating off the engineer’s body.

“It’s been a long day Er-Bear. You need your forty winks.”

“You’re probably right Holtzy.” As she released her pendant, her fingers brushed Holtzmann’s neck. She felt the younger woman shiver underneath her touch. 

_ I wonder… _

“You’re as tired as I am Holtz. I don’t want you stumbling around at this hour. Stay the night, ok?”

Erin pulled away from Holtzmann’s embrace to stand up and stretch, trying to hide the nervousness over the proposal she just made.  _ It wasn’t indecent - I don’t think? _

“Ok Erin” Holtzmann licked her lips in nervousness, causing Erin’s legs to feel slightly wobbly. “You got an extra blanket so I can camp out here?”

“This couch is horrible to sleep on Holtz. Come on, there’s plenty of room in my bed.” Erin extended her uninjured hand out to help Holtzmann off the couch. She had to suppress a smile when she saw how wide the engineer’s eyes got, the way her breath hitched.

“All righty. Um…” Holtzmann swallowed and gave Erin  _ a look _ once she stood up. For a moment she thought the blonde would kiss her, but Holtzmann seemed to break out of her trance almost as soon as it started.

“Go ahead and get ready for bed Holtz. I’m just going to brush my teeth and wash my face ok?” Erin nodded before heading toward the bathroom, leaning against the door once she closed it behind her.

_ Deep breath Gilbert. You don’t have to do anything.  _

She moved to the sink and grabbed her toothbrush.

_ But you  _ want  _ to… _

After several minutes prepping for bedtime and changing into the t-shirt and jogging pants she had put aside in the morning to wear to bed, she took a deep breath before heading to the bedroom. She found Holtzmann laying on her back on the right side of her queen bed, clad in only her boxers and the t-shirt that served as her undershirt. She was twiddling her thumbs as she stared at the ceiling, her eyes brightening when the physicist entered the room.

“Hey, E.” Holtzmann’s voice was strained.

_ She’s nervous. _

“Hey yourself.” Erin switched the lamp on her nightstand on before turning off the overhead light. She slid under her comforter, nodding to Holtzmann to do the same. The two women were silent for a beat, not daring to move, not daring to speak.

“Do you know why I really tried to fix my pack by myself?”

Holtzmann turned to her side to look at Erin, propping her head on her hand. “No, why?”

Erin’s voice trembled. “I wanted to impress you Holtz.”

Holtzmann grabbed Erin’s injured hand, bringing it to her lips to place a gentle kiss on the bandage. “You don't have to impress me hot stuff, I'm already impressed by you 24/7.”

The physicist was glad the lights were dimmed, hoping the blonde wouldn’t see the flush on her cheeks when she spoke next.

“You know, it hurts somewhere else too.”

“Oh. Where?”

A shaky finger pointed to her lips. “Um, here.”

Holtzmann gave her a lopsided smile before bringing her face closer to her own, cupping her cheek. Their lips were just a hair’s breadth apart before she spoke huskily.

“Well maybe Holtzy can make it feel better.”

Holtzmann’s lips were slightly rough as they moved against Erin’s. She tasted of orange juice and basil. The physicist moaned as the engineer deepened the kiss, her tongue caressing her own. Erin gripped the sides of Holtzmann’s t-shirt, this single kiss turning her on more than she could ever imagine.

“Feeling better?” Holtzmann rasped once they had broken apart.

“Wow, I mean yes.” Erin was nearly breathless, her heart pounding in her ears. 

“C’mere sleepy bear. Let’s hibernate.”

Erin snuggled into Holtzmann’s warm embrace, the soothing sounds of the engineer’s heartbeat lulling her into a content sleep within moments.

* * *

Erin was awoken by the sunlight streaming through her blinds, slowly opening her eyes and blinking. The sight on the bed next to her made her smile.

Holtzmann still had her arm wrapped around her waist, her blonde hair half out of her usual up-do, spread across the pillow. Her mouth was open, a thin puddle of drool on her pillow, snoring lightly.

She thought the engineer looked adorable and angelic.

The physicist looked down to see Holtzmann’s t-shirt had ridden up, exposing a flat stomach and the very bottom of her breasts. Erin’s face flashed red when she thought of how she’d like to kiss that stomach, take her hands and place them on Holtzmann’s breasts and…

“Like what you see hot stuff?”

Erin was horrified to see blue eyes looking back at her, a sly smile on the blonde’s face.

“Sorry Holtz, I…”

“Wanna sample the merchandise?”

Something about the way Holtzmann said those words, the sultry tone of her voice made Erin forget her inhibitions. She rolled herself half on top of the engineer and pulled her into a deep kiss, not caring about either of their morning breaths.

“Mmmm,” Holtzmann hummed against Erin’s lips as she pulled her completely on top of her, grabbing her ass. Erin in turn grabbed a fist-full of Holtzmann’s hair and pulled, lavishing kisses on the younger woman’s now exposed neck. When Holtzmann let out a strangled cry and squeezed Erin’s behind, the act caused the physicist’s hips to buck.

_ How can I be this turned on already… _

Erin rolled back off Holtzmann, the blonde making a disappointed sigh. She couldn’t help but giggle when Holtzmann lightly traced her face with her finger. The engineer’s blue eyes adoringly looked into her own, her lips spread in a bright smile

_ I never believed I could inspire someone to look at me like...that. _

“So due to your grievous injury, you’re going to need help shampooing your hair this morning, aren’t you?”

Erin couldn’t help the pooling of heat below her waist at Holtzmann’s wolfish grin, the sultry tone of her voice and what it implied. 

“I think I could use your assistance Dr. Holtzmann. And your expert...care.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Holtzmann planted a sloppy kiss on Erin’s lips, rolled off her side of the bed and practically sprinted toward the bathroom.  
  
Erin found out shortly thereafter she would run out of hot water in her shower at the 28-minute mark.


	5. Who You Gonna Call?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, Dreamshaper here. This is a biiiit NSFW. You didn't really think the Holtzbros would have no smut in this, did you ;)

Holtzmann wasn’t used to being alone at the firehouse on a Friday night. Usually Friday nights would find the Ghostbusters unwinding at a select few watering holes, or at the very least, watching terrible movies on the headquarters’ flat screen TV, all whilst eating popcorn and drinking until they were pleasantly tipsy. But this Friday Abby had family visiting, Patty had tickets to a book reading and Erin was on a date.

A date. Without Holtzmann.

Holtzmann had accepted the fact she had no chance with the auburn-haired, brilliant scientist.  _ She wouldn’t be caught dead dating a goofball like me in public,  _ she’d muse. _ Besides, Gilbert is painfully straight. _

The engineer sighed as she rewired one of the proton guns. She didn’t have any pressing work to do, but occupying her mind was a necessity at this point. Going home to her messy, studio apartment would only reinforce that she was alone and most likely would never have anyone with which to share her private space, except for an occasional girl she’d bring back to scratch an itch.

Holtzmann glanced over at her now buzzing phone on top of her workbench. When she saw the name of the sender of the text message, she gulped.

_ Erin. _

She was half tempted to not read the message, to wait until the morning. Feign that she had fallen asleep early when she’d respond tomorrow.

_ That’s not fair Holtz. She didn’t do anything wrong. _

The blonde took a deep breath before grabbing the phone and swiping the screen.

_ Are you busy? _

_ Not really. What’s up hot stuff? _

_ I need you to save me. _

_ What? Are you hurt? Tell me what’s wrong Er! _

Holtzmann bit her lip and fidgeted as she impatiently watched the blinking three dots on her phone screen.

_ No I’m fine. This date is just...awful. They went to the bathroom quick so I’m hoping you can rescue me. _

The engineer smiled. She wasn’t sure if she was more pleased Erin’s date was a flop or that she was the first one the physicist thought of when she needed help.

_ Your knight in shining armor approaches. Where ya at? _

_ I’m at Caffeine on the Upper West Side. Ah shoot, here they come, bye! _

Holtzmann lept off her stool. 

_ Maybe this night won’t be so crappy after all. _

* * *

It took Holtzmann 45 minutes to get to the cafe, the blonde bouncing her leg and grabbing the bottom of her leather jacket in nervousness. She hoped she could avoid any awkward confrontations. All she planned on doing was rushing into the cafe, telling Erin she was sorely needed on Ghostbusters business, and returning to the firehouse with the physicist to console her.

She hopped out of the Ecto-1 once she was able to find a legal parking spot a half a block away. The blonde took a sideways glance in the window of the cafe as she approached and stopped in her tracks.

Erin was on a date. With a  _ woman. _

A million thoughts went through Holtzmann’s brain in those few seconds. She took a closer look at the woman Erin was sitting across from as she nursed her coffee mug. She had curly blonde hair, wore glasses and a leather jacket.

_ Like her. _

She tried not to think of the implications. Tried not to imagine the possibilities. But it was fruitless.

_ Maybe I have a chance… _

Holtzmann shook her head, taking a deep breath before entering the cafe. She tried not to notice how Erin’s eyes lit up when she saw her approaching. Tried not to think about the way the physicist gave her a crooked smile when she started to speak.

“Hey, Erin. Sorry to interrupt but we have an emergency at the firehouse. A couple fairly decent sized poofs. I need you.”

Holtzmann’s last statement wasn’t a lie. She needed Erin, in more ways than one.

“Oh shoot. Looks like we’ll have to cut this evening short Carol. It was nice meeting you though.” Erin stood up and shook the woman’s hand, the crestfallen look on other woman’s face making it apparent Erin’s date was wishing for much more later that night.

Before Holtzmann turned around to follow Erin out the door, she gave Carol a look. As if to say,  _ I’ve won. _

The couple walked back to the Ecto-1 in relative silence until they were just a few feet away.

“Thanks Holtz. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem Er.” Holtzmann waited a beat before following up. “You didn’t tell me your date was a woman.” She unlocked the passenger side door before holding it open for the physicist who slid into the seat, shutting the door behind her.

“You didn’t ask.” Erin raised an eyebrow when the engineer sat in the driver’s seat next to her and started the engine.

“What!” Holtzmann sputtered, eyes going wide behind her yellow-tinted glasses, “what do you mean, I didn’t ask?! I thought you were straight as a board the whole time! Why would I assume that you go on a date with a woman!?”

“Again”, Erin replied, and Holtzmann could have sworn she sounded a tad smug, “you didn’t ask. Don’t you know that  _ assuming  _ things is bad science,  _ Doctor  _ Holtzmann?”

“Pah”, Holtzmann let out, unable to come with another, better reply; and when Erin smirked at her, it  _ definitely  _ was smug, the engineer holding back the childish urge to poke her tongue out at the physicist in response.

“So, uh”, she added after a moment as she drove out of the parking spot and down the road, “should I take you to your place?”

“Please”, Erin replied, smugness for the moment gone again; Holtzmann nodded and focused on driving, and even though her mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out how to handle this new information - and the implications of Erin having had a date with a woman who actually resembled her quite a bit - the silence wasn’t uncomfortable, Erin looking out the window while the engineer kept her eyes on the road.

“A shame, you know”, Erin was the one to break the silence, shortly before they arrived at her apartment building; spotting an empty parking spot, Holtzmann let out a vaguely questioning noise, carefully maneuvering the car into the spot, even though she got quite distracted when Erin continued.

“Here I went on a date, hoping to get laid so I’d be distracted”, the physicist told her, “and then it’s a dud.”

“Well, you can still get laid, you know”, Holtzmann said before she could stop herself; Erin froze for a moment, then turned to look at her, her face unreadable, and when she kept looking and said nothing, Holtzmann started to get nervous.

“Hahaha”, she let out stilted, obviously fake laughter, fidgeting on the seat, “that was a joke, you know. Totally. A joke. Not serious. Funny, no?”

“You know what I wanted to distract myself from?” Erin said after a few more seconds had ticked by, apparently having decided to ignore Holtzmann’s lame attempt at lying; not sure what to expect, Holtzmann just shook her head, a flash of heat going right to her core at what the physicist said next.

“From how much I want you”, Erin told her, and before she could stop herself and think about what she was about to do, Holtzmann turned in the seat as far as she could, grabbed the lapels of Erin’s jacket and yanked her closer, their lips smashing together.

Erin kissed her back at once, wrapping both arms around her, one of the physicist’s hands coming up to entangle in her hair, and when the kiss deepened and their tongues met, Erin let out a moan which sent shivers up and down the engineer’s spine.

“Believe me”, Holtzmann rasped as they pulled apart again, noticing that Erin was breathing heavier, “you’ll be so glad this date was a dud. I’ll rock your world better than she ever could have.”

“Talk is cheap, you know”, Erin replied, with a noticeable hitch in her breath, “why don’t you come upstairs with me and show me?”

Holtzmann only let out a sort of low growl in reply, making Erin smile; without another word, she got out of the car and made her way to the apartment building’s entrance, with a deliberate sway of her hips, hearing Holtzmann catch up to her not even a minute later, her heart skipping an excited beat as she looked forward to what the evening would bring.

* * *

Erin’s plan had been to move straight to the bedroom, but clearly, Holtzmann was too eager to even make it there - because the moment Erin had locked the apartment door, the engineer pushed her against the wall and kissed her deeply, simultaneously bringing up her leg and pressing her thigh up between Erin’s, the physicist moaning into her mouth as her hips bucked in an attempt to increase the friction.

“I hope you’re not into that blouse all too much”, Holtzmann breathed as she pulled back; Erin had a moment to wonder what she meant - then the younger woman grabbed the front of said blouse and ripped it open, buttons flying everywhere, but Erin couldn’t find it within herself to get upset. 

She wanted to pull Holtzmann close for another kiss instead, but the engineer dipped her head and ran her tongue over her throat; Erin let out a rough moan and ran her hands up and down Holtzmann’s back - only for the engineer to take her hold of her wrists and move her hands up, holding them against the wall with one hand, running her other along the hem of Erin’s pants, smirking at how the redhead tried to move into her touch with another twitch of her hips.

“Eager, are we”, she teased, opening the button and pulling the zipper down agonizingly slow; Erin groaned, and when Holtzmann slid her hand inside the other woman’s underwear, she encountered warm wetness, showing her how turned on Erin already was.

Kissing her deeply again, she muffled the older woman’s moans as her thumb found her clit and began rubbing slow circles; she had always been good at figuring out what women liked, at reading their reactions perfectly, and so, she knew just when to  _ push _ , and Erin groaned loudly as she twitched against her hand, the wetness between her legs only increasing.

“See”, Holtzmann told her, slowly pulling her hand back, smirking, “told you I’d rock your world. And I’m only getting started.”

“Bedroom”, Erin practically growled, making the engineer snicker with how eager she was; she let Erin lead the way, almost rubbing her hands in glee, looking forward to take her apart completely, until she’d be screaming her name and would never waste another thought on this other woman again.

* * *

“Oh God”, Erin panted out hours later, flat on her back, sweat glistening all over her naked body, “oh jeez, Holtz. I can’t move. I literally can’t move.”

“Good thing you’re in bed already then, hot stuff”, Holtzmann gave back, and now, it was her turn to sound smug; Erin just gave her a  _ look _ , then groaned and somehow went even slacker than she had been before, her eyes drifting shut almost on their own.

“You didn’t just rock my world”, she said as she forced them open again, “you  _ destroyed _ it. Holy shit. I don’t think anyone ever made me scream like that before.”

“Happy to hear”, Holtzmann grinned, Erin smiling back at her - before she pulled her down for a deep, but gentle and slow kiss, letting out a content sigh when Holtzmann snuggled up to her afterwards.

“And tomorrow”, the engineer told her, drawing invisible circles on the physicist’s bare stomach, “I’m gonna take you out on a date. A proper one which won’t be a dud.”  
  
“Looking forward to it”, Erin mumbled, sounding half asleep; smiling, Holtzmann kissed her on the forehead, then just lightly caressed her hair until Erin had drifted off into slumber, the engineer grinning up at the ceiling, feeling happier than she had in quite some time.


	6. Chinchillas

Erin was confused, and it was all Holtzmann’s fault.

This wasn’t anything new, per se, the engineer often confused her, even though she usually wasn’t aware of it; she caused it unaware and possibly unintentionally, with her flirty one-liners, her jokes and her winks, with her dancing and with the way she usually let Erin be the first to test new weapons on Testing Day.

Erin was sort of getting used to the confusion this caused her, to the doubts the blonde made her feel about her own sexuality; she wondered if Holtzmann was aware of this, but if the engineer was, she didn’t let it show. And if she was, it certainly didn’t stop her from flirting and winking and dancing… not that Erin minded that much.

Now though, Holtzmann had added a new kind of confusion to the one which had been somewhat of a constant for Erin ever since she had met the engineer, and this time, Erin knew for sure that Holtzmann had no idea about it.

It had started harmlessly enough, with Erin going up to the lab to tell Holtzmann that lunch had been delivered; and she had found the engineer working on what looked like an enormous cage, a welding mask hiding her face as she soldered bits and pieces of metal together, even though she paused and pushed the mask up when Erin entered, smiling brightly at her.

“Do I even want to know what this is?” Erin had said, gesturing at the engineer’s project, the reason for why she had come to the lab in the first place for the moment forgotten; Holtzmann had grinned a bright, dimpled grin at her which made her heart skip a beat, and it had been her answer which had been the start of this new confusion for Erin.

“It’s a cage”, the blonde told her, putting the soldering iron aside, “for my children.”

And with that revelation, she had skipped past Erin and to the firepole, sliding down to the ground floor, while Erin had been left standing there, blinking and confused, not having the slightest idea what Holtzmann had been talking about.

* * *

If anyone who wasn’t Holtzmann had made such a comment about cages and children, Erin immediately would have alerted the authorities; it had been Holtzmann though, and so, the physicist had tried to forget about it, telling herself that certainly, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation which had nothing to do with child neglect and abuse.

Apparently, Holtzmann was just as unaware of how disconcerting her words could sound as she was about the effect she had on Erin; she kept making remarks about her children, and with each of them, Erin’s confusion only got bigger.

“Sorry I’m late”, was one of those examples, said by the engineer when she did arrive late one morning, “one of my children peed on me and I had to change. So adorable though!”

“One of my children escaped yesterday and I had to chase her around the apartment for hours”, she said another day, when she came to work looking tired and made an immediate beeline for the coffee machine, “little bugger climbed up on all the cupboards until I managed to grab her.”

Neither Patty, nor Abby seemed to find this in any way weird or upsetting, and so, Erin rolled with it, as well; it still confused her, but she wasn’t quite sure how to ask the engineer about it, and so, she kept her confusion to herself.

And, as it turned out, all she had to do was wait - because one day, as she sat at her desk and worked on a rather taxing equation, she saw something roll past from the corner of her eye, pausing before she turned her head for a closer look.

It was a bright, transparent plastic ball, and she quickly could see why it was moving - because inside was a furry creature, peering this way and that as it ran, and all Erin could do was stare.

Her eyes only got bigger when a moment later, two more balls with similar looking furry creatures rolled past; curious now, Erin got up from her seat, only to recoil as a fourth ball shot towards her with surprising speed, and she avoided stepping on it at the last moment.

“Erin!” she heard Holtzmann cry out, the engineer running up to her a moment later, “don’t step on my child!”

“...that explains so much”, Erin mumbled, and it did, in fact, it was a perfect explanation, “these are your children? These furry… rodents?”

“Chinchillas!” Holtzmann beamed at her, and Erin almost automatically smiled back at her, oddly relieved that she now knew what all this talk about children had been about.

“I’d like you to meet Meg, Calvin, Charles Wallace and Aunt Beast,” Holtzmann pointed the chinchillas out as they rolled by them. She leaned toward Erin, speaking in a sly whisper. “Aunt Beast is really a sweetheart, don’t be fooled. But watch out for Charles Wallace - he’s the one with a hyperactive bladder.” The engineer winked at Erin before chasing after the small animals who were dangerously close to the stairwell.

 _As if I couldn’t fall for her any harder,_ Erin thought to herself as she watched Holtzmann corral the four chinchillas, speaking to all of them as if they were small humans. The blonde turned and looked up at the physicist and grinned, her broad smile making her feel warm all over.

Holtzmann started to bring her “children” into the firehouse on occasion, much to the consternation of Patty (“those little rats better not shit by my desk”), the annoyance of Abby (“if I trip over one of those balls one more time…”), and the glee of Kevin (“my fuzzy nieces and nephews!”).

Erin watched Holtzmann and was touched the way the engineer cared for these four fluffy beings so much. So, when one day the blonde booked over to her desk, a look of panic across her face, Erin’s heart nearly dropped into her feet when she heard what Holtzmann had to say.

“Charles Wallace got out of his ball! I have no idea how it happened! I can’t find him Er!”

The engineer’s eyes were wide, her bottom lip trembling. She looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

“It’s ok Holtz,” Erin put a comforting hand on the blonde’s shoulder, alarmed at the way her entire body was shaking. “We’ll find him. I’m sure he hasn’t traveled far.”

They spent the rest of the day searching every nook and cranny in the firehouse for the small creature. Even Patty and Abby helped, distressed by how upset their friend was. Erin remained with Holtzmann after their colleagues had gone home for the evening, looking in various corners of the building for the third and fourth time, hoping against hope the chinchilla would turn up.

The two women eventually collapsed on the couch in Holtzmann’s lab after midnight, exhausted from hours of searching, “He’s the smallest of them all. The most skittish. Erin, he must be so scared. I can’t -”  Holtzmann leaned forward and put her head in her hands and began to sob. The physicist rubbed the younger woman’s back, unsure of how to comfort her.

“Want a hug?”

Holtzmann turned and threw her arms around Erin’s neck, soaking the physicist’s shoulder with hot tears. Erin rocked the engineer in her arms, both women eventually falling asleep still tangled up, Holtzmann with tears dried on her cheeks.

* * *

It had been a week since Charles Wallace had gone missing, and Holtzmann was suffering. Everyday brought a new realization that the likelihood of the chinchilla turning up safe and sound was diminishing, putting the engineer further in a funk that no one could rouse her out of. Erin for her part tried to support Holtzmann the best way she knew how, by supplying her with hugs and a shoulder to cry on, by making sure she ate and by providing comfort when she looked on the verge of tears.

Seeing the blonde in this state made Erin’s heart hurt. And it left no doubt in her brain how she felt for the quirky, attractive engineer.

_I’m head over heels for her…_

The physicist sighed and chewed on the eraser of her pencil as she took down some notes from a journal she had been reading. She looked at her feet to gather her thoughts when something caught her eye.

_Why are there Pringles crumbs under my desk? I despise the things. Unless…_

Erin looked over and noticed a trail of crumbs leading all the way against the far wall, all the way to a pair of Holtzmann’s old work boots, one tipped over on its side. The physicist quietly crept over to it, eventually getting on her hands and knees to peer inside. Her eyes got wide as she tipped the boot upright and yelled

“Holtzmann! Get down here!”

“Whawhawha?” Erin heard the telltale sign of the engineer sliding down the firepole behind her, footsteps quickly approaching her.

“Look!” Erin stood as she pointed at the boot, a smile spreading across her face.

Holtzmann’s eyes twinkled as she peeped inside, squealing as she reached in to pull out a small, dusty chinchilla, munching on half a Pringle.

“CHARLES WALLACE! Oh buddy, where have you been? Mama was so worried about you!” Holltzmann cradled the small creature in her arms, kissing him on the top of his head. “I’m so glad all the salty parabola traps I set up worked!”

Erin frowned. “How many of these traps did you set up Holtz?”

“That’s not important right now Er. My little man is back.” The blonde looked up at Erin, her eyes wet with tears. “How can I ever repay you?”

“Well, um. It was just luck really. I mean you set the traps, I just followed the crumbs.” Erin realized she was babbling as the engineer got closer to her, so close she could feel her breath on her lips. “Holtz -”

Erin was silenced when Holtzmann’s lips met her own. The younger woman’s lips were soft, her kiss gentle. The physicist threaded her fingers through Holtzmann’s hair, careful not to press up against her, lest she squash the chinchilla still being cradled in the other woman’s arms.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Holtzmann breathed as she pulled away, her smile warming Erin’s heart.

“How long Holtzy?”

“Hmmmm… since Higgins and the tiny bow tie.”

“Well, you’ve waited long enough, do it again.”

“No.”

Erin felt the panic rising inside her. “No? Was I a bad kisser, does my breath smell, what -”

Holtzmann leaned forward and placed a light smack on the physicist’s lips.

“No, because Charles Wallace just peed in my hands and I really need to deal with it right now.”

Erin wrinkled her nose.

“Oh.”

* * *

Holtzmann would joke it was the chinchillas that finally brought herself and Erin together. So it was fitting that 13 months later, they’d be a part of their wedding party.

“See, I’ve been training them and everything Patty-Cakes. All Abby has to do is let them go at the end of the aisle and they’ll run up to me in their exercise balls. Right before Erin makes her grand entrance.”

Patty shook her head as she straightened Holtzmann’s tie, moments before the wedding was to begin. “I know you’re crazy girl. But this might be your strangest scheme yet. What if one of them pisses in the aisle? Your lady is gonna be mad as hell if she steps in it.”

“Nah, don’t worry. I had Kevin take them out for a walk a few minutes ago to get all the tinkles out.”

“What? I just - Ah hell, Holtzy, get your skinny ass out there and marry your woman.”

* * *

Holtzmann didn’t see Kevin corral the chinchillas into a playpen in the corner, after an uneventful roll down the aisle. She didn’t see Abby wiping tears from her eyes, Patty trying her best not to ruin her mascara.

All she saw was dark blue eyes and a shy smile.  
  
All she saw was Erin.


	7. Saturday Night Live

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here's our last entry for Holtzbert Week. 
> 
> All of the smut. All of it.
> 
> Hope we didn't disappoint ;)

“Erin. Babe. Hot stuff. Apple of my eye. Cupcake.”

This mass of endearments at once immediately made Erin suspect that Holtzmann had done something which she now wanted to confess, and she looked up from her work to suspiciously peer at the engineer, the angelic smile Holtzmann gave her the moment their eyes met only reinforcing the assumption that Holtzmann had done something.

“Yeeeeees?” she said, drawing the word out more than perhaps necessary; Holtzmann’s smile only widened, and she batted her eyelashes, looking so innocent and pure that Erin almost expected a halo to pop into existence over her head.

“You got plans for Saturday night?” Holtzmann said, planting her butt onto Erin’s desk, not caring that she ended up sitting on a bunch of papers and a notebook; not sure what to think of this question, Erin raised an eyebrow and shrugged, still apprehensive when she replied.

“I was kind of assuming we’d spend it together?” she let the engineer know, figuring that this wasn’t an unreasonable idea - they had spent most weekends together since they had started dating, after all; Holtzmann gave her another happy smile and nodded, then leaned closer, as if she was about to reveal the secrets of the universe to the redhead.

“That is what I am going for, yup”, she said, “buuuut… I have a suggestion for this Saturday night. A… new experience, if I may say so.”

“Oh?” Erin gave back, not quite sure what to expect; Holtzmann gave her another angelic smile, then finally stopped beating around the bush, her words coming out in a hurried rush, showing Erin how nervous she had been about asking her.

“I kinda wanna go to a concert with you”, the engineer blurted, “I know they’re normally not your thing because they are loud and crowded, but it’s a band I really like and I’d love to share that with you and they don’t play live often anymore and I really wanna go.”

“I’d love to go with you, Holtz”, Erin told her at once, not even having to think about this for a second - it was true, she usually wasn’t a big fan of live gigs, not enjoying it to stand in a dark venue for hours among sweaty people and drinking overpriced drinks, but Holtzmann looked so excited, and Erin found it impossible to deny her this.

 _And also_ , she thought to herself, while Holtzmann gave her a smile so bright and happy that it lit up the room, _she went to that art showing with you last week, and you know she was bored out of her mind there, even if she kept denying it. You owe her one._

“Really?!” Holtzmann beamed, so happy that it made Erin’s heart clench up - a reaction the engineer caused surprisingly often, “awesome! I’ll get us tickets then! Woohoo!”

She leaned in for a resounding smooch, making Erin giggle a bit, then skipped away… and belatedly, Erin realized that she hadn’t asked for a very important bit of information.

“Holtzmann, wait!” she cried out, coming to her feet and hurrying after the engineer, “which band is it?!”

* * *

The venue was even more crowded than Erin had anticipated, and she wasn’t quite sure anymore if this had been a good idea; Holtzmann looked so happy though, bouncing on the spot as they waited in line to get drinks, the opening act already playing.

“So many people”, Erin observed, looking around; Holtzmann nodded enthusiastically, clearly not as perturbed by this as the physicist was, even though her gaze softened when she looked at her girlfriend.

“Tell me if it gets too much”, she said, making Erin smile, “then we can step outside for some fresh air, alright?”

“I’ll be fine”, Erin reassured her, earning another bright smile; then, it was their turn to get drinks at last, and once they had some, they moved on into the actual concert area, finding a good spot where they both could see the stage, Holtzmann ending up in front of Erin, the physicist easily capable of peering over her head.

Once the band came on stage and started playing (they were some eclectic pop-electro-bluegrass outfit unfamiliar to the physicist), Erin placed her hands on Holtzmann’s shoulders. She was mesmerized by the way the engineer moved to the beat, eyes half closed, singing along.

It turned her on. Immensely.

After two songs Holtzmann was so lost in the music she hardly noticed Erin moving her hands down to wrap around her waist, tightly gripping through the engineer’s t-shirt. By song three, Erin had closed the gap between them, her breasts brushing up against the blonde’s back.

By the fourth song Erin had slipped her hands underneath the waistband of Holtzmann’s cargo pants and lightly stroked the soft skin above the engineer’s boxers. She felt the younger woman stiffen and tremble slightly.

“Erin -” Holtzmann rasped, just loud enough so only Erin could hear. “What are you doing?”

The physicist leaned forward, her lips brushing Holtzmann’s earlobe. “I wanna join in the fun too.”

Holtzmann squirmed. “But what if someone sees? What if -”

Erin silenced her girlfriend by cupping her through her boxers. “Everyone’s watching the band. Just don’t get too loud when I get you off.” She slipped one hand underneath her waistband and lightly brushed the engineer’s course curls. Holtzmann’s hips involuntarily bucked.

“Huh,” Erin breathed into the blonde’s ear. “A little excited are we?”

“Er -”

The band finished their song, a brief period of instrument adjusting taking place before they started their next one, a loud rousing number that had the crowd cheering and jumping. Erin took this opportunity to dip her hand lower, brushing against Holtzmann’s clit with her index finger.

Holtzmann hissed and moved one hand to grip the back of Erin’s neck, fusing their two bodies as close together as possible.

“That’s right Holtzy. Hang on - you’re going for a ride.”

Erin had rarely been the daring one in this relationship, preferring the engineer to take the lead, to do things the physicist never even dreamed about. But something about the way Holtzmann moved tonight, the way she was so intense, so carefree, turned Erin on something fierce.

She had to have her. Now.

As she licked the back of Holtzmann’s earlobe, Erin began to rub tight circles on Holtzmann’s clit, not surprised how drenched her girlfriend was.

“You’re so wet for me Holtzy. So ready.”

“HNGH. You being so close to me always gets me so hot baby.” Erin lowered her fingers to circle around the blonde’s entrance. “Oh fuck….” Holtzmann breathed.

“That’s right. Move your hips with mine. Concentrate on the rhythm…”

Erin began to rock her hips in time to the beat of the music, and when she felt she was ready, slowly entered her girlfriend with one finger.

“Jesus Er…”

“Don’t talk.”

She pressed her free hand flat against Holtzmann’s stomach, her torso moving in conjunction to her thrusting finger. She felt the blonde grip the back of her neck tighter, her other hand moving to cover Erin’s. Holtzmann’s hand clasped her own so strongly she was sure there would be indentations from her short fingernails for hours to come.

Erin waited until there was a quiet part of the music to proceed, a wicked smile spreading across her face. “Holtzy…” she whispered huskily against the side of her neck.

“Babe…”

“Come for me.”

The physicist pressed her thumb against Holtzmann’s clit as she added a second finger inside her girlfriend. She curled them upward and the blonde’s knees buckled.

“Fucking hell, ohhhh…”

Holtzmann bit her bottom lip to quell the moan she so wanted to let slip through. Erin gripped the engineer’s hip tighter as she trembled, Holtzmann’s orgasm washing over her in waves. When she stilled, her head slipping forward so her blonde curls partially obscured her face, Erin gradually withdrew her fingers, her girlfriend’s hips bucking one last time in silent protest. She waited until Holtzmann’s eyes met her own before she put her fingers in her mouth and sucked.

Holtzmann turned and pulled Erin tight against her, fusing their lips together in a passionate kiss that made Erin’s knees weak. “Come with me to the bathroom. I need to freshen up after your…” Holtzmann gave the physicist a crooked smile. “...efforts.”

Erin felt a tad lightheaded as she grabbed Holtzmann’s hand, led through the crowd of concert-goers to the bathroom in the back of the club. Her girlfriend didn’t seem to care as she roughly pushed the door to the ladies room open, startling a younger woman who was reapplying her lipstick at the row of sinks. The engineer pulled Erin in front of her by the hand, shoving her into one of the stalls, following and slamming and locking the door behind her.

“Holtz…”

“Shut up. Or don’t. I don’t care.”

The engineer backed Erin up against the side of the stall and unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, pulling them down in one rough movement.

“Step out of them Er.”

“Someone will hear…”

“That didn’t stop you from fucking me on the dance floor. Payback is a bitch you know.” Holtzmann moved forward and bit down where Erin’s neck met her shoulder, right above where the physicist’s t-shirt covered her smooth, soft skin.

Erin acquiesced and stepped out of her pants, letting out a breathy moan before Holtzmann pulled back to look into her eyes and wink.

“I love concerts.”

Holtzmann dropped to her knees.

Erin threaded her fingers through blonde curls. And wondered what she’d do for an encore before all she could think about was Holtzmann’s tongue and lips and teeth.

They never made it back to the dance floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dreamshaper and I had a lot of fun, and we hope y'all enjoyed it. We can't wait to do something like this again - it was great to see all of the other entries. So many talented folks in this fandom! :D
> 
> Thanks again to our esteemed captain - A+ for all your efforts in organizing this :)


End file.
